Spreading apparatus



Dec. 20, 1932.

M. wl Dr-:RMAN

SPREADING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 8, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 20, 1932.

M. WILDERMAN SPREADING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 8, 1951 5 sheets-'sheet 5 Dec. 20, 1932. M, W|| DERMAN 1,891,790

SPREADING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 8, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 s4 Se INVEN-roR Q if l "Q e is@ @www Dec. 20, 1932. M. wlLDERMAN SPREADING APPARATUS 5 sheets-sheet 5 Filed Jan. 8, 1931 NNNI NNN INVENTOR Patented Dec. Z, 1932,.

UNITED STATES `PATENT OFFICE* MEYER WILDEBMAN, OF MONTE CARLO, MONACO, AssIGNOR 'ro THE AMERICAN wIL- v DERIIAN POROUs EBONITE COMPANY, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A COB- PORATION 0F PENNSYLVANIA SPREADING APPARATUS Application filed January 8, 1931, Serial No. 507,359, and in Great Britaink December 20,V 1928.

This invention relates to a device for spreading finely divided solid'material uniformly in a mold. It may be used for the preparation of solid or vporous articles by the method hereinafter disclosed.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial No. 334,447, filed January 23,1929.

In the manufacture ofarticles such as separators for storage batteries, diaphragms, filter plates, etc., of porous or porous and nonporous material,it is essential that the porosity be uniform throughout the article and also that similar articles made at different times have the same porosity. It is also desirable to be able to make articles whose porosity is different from that of other similar articles and this is most easily accomplished by varying the amount of granulated material placed in a given volume, and then pressing the material.

In order to manufacture such articles under strictly controlled and duplicable conditions, I have inventedthe machine herein described which I call a spreader. Y

It is particularlyk adapted for spreading powdered semi-vulcanized rubber mixtures and the like into a rigid mold or onto a sheet of metal foil contained in a rigid mold for the production of porous rubber articles, such as are described in my United States Patent No. 1,651,567, granted December 6, 1927, and for the process described in my copending application Serial No. 334,447, led January 23, 1929. A A Y In one embodiment of the invention', the spreader has two chambers, an upper one which I designate as the hopper or storage chamber, and a lower cylindrical one. The two chambers are connected by a slot at the lowest part of the hopper and extending the entire length parallel to the axis of thecylindrical chamber. This slot is controlled by a shutter by means of which it can be closed or opened as occasion demands and by means of which the flow of material from the hopper to the lower chamber may be regulated. v l The cylindrical chamberpis also provided with a slot and a shutter at its lowest part and through this slot the material liows to the mold when the shutter is opened.

The hopper is further provided with stirrers which keep the powder contained therein in a state of ine subdivision as is necessary for good* spreading andthe lower cylinder also has a stirrer'for the same purpose. This second stirrer insures. uniform delivery of Y the materialthrough the lower slot and into the mold. l Y

Means for heating the powder withinboth chambers is also provided in the walls of the spreader. The heating of the powder keeps it in a state of fine subdivision and is preferably done electrically since, by means of automatic regulators, the temperature can be accurately controlled.

On the bottom of the spreader movable l blades or fingers are fastened which press the metal foil firmly into the mold during the spreading operation, so as to insure uniform vthickness ofthe powdered material in lthe mold. y

The shutter for the lower slot is operated by a series of levers which are actuated through a roller on one of the levers, running on a cam type rail.

' Inthe accompanying drawings whichilf lso ' Figurel 7 illustrates vone of the -rails on which thespreader is supported; and

Figure 8 illustrates one of the cam rails for vcontrolling the spreading of powdered material into the molds. i 4 Referring more particularly tothe accompanying drawings, the spreader 2 comprises :an upper chamber 3 in the general form of av hopper, and a lowercylindrical chamber g4.' The upper and lower chambers communicate y l ends of the shaft 55.

t few seconds.

trolled by a shutter 10. The shutter is held tight against the wall of the chamber Aby straps 11.

The shutter 6 between the two chambers is fastened at each end to discs 12 and 12 and thesediscs have projecting pins 13 and 13 which extend through slots 14 and 14 in the end walls of the upper chamber. The discs rotate about the shaft 55 o-f the stirrer.

The pins 13 and 13 are connected at their .outer ends to the levers 16 and 16 which are mounted on ball bearings 17 and 17 on the At the upper end of each lever is a pointer 18 to indicate the position of the shutter within the spreader. Rods 19 and 19 are connected to the levers 16 and 16 by pins 20 and 20 and the other ends of these rods are connected to levers 21 and 21 by the pinsA 28 and 28. he lever 21 is integral with a handle 22 which is used for manual operation of the shutter 6. The levers 21 and 21 are rigidly connected to a shaft 23 to insure simultaneous action at both ends of the shutter. The lever 21 has a slotted extension part 24 which carries a stop lug 25 fastened by the bolt 26 and nut 27 to the slotf ted portion 24. Mounted loosely on the shaft 23 at the end where the handle and stop lug are, is a bell crank 29. The upper arm'of this crank is connected by a link 30 and rod 33 to the armature 31 of an electromagnet 32. On the other end of the shaft 23 a crank 34 is rigidly mounted. This crank is connected through a link 35 to the armature 36 of an electromagnet .37. These magnets are operated automatically so as toopen and close the intermediate shutter 6 as the spreading operation requires. The rods 19 and 19 pass through holes in the stops 38 and 38 which are fastened to the body of the spreader. These rods also Vcarry adjustable lugs 39 and 39 which stop the shutter at any desired point by contacting with the stops 38 and'38. The shutter 6 is operated as follows Then the spreading` operation starts the magnet 32 is automatically energized for a The armature 31 is drawn downwardly from the position shown in Fig ure 2 and this rotates the crank 29 counterclockwise and moves the stop 25 on the crank arm 24. This rotates the shaft 23 which operates the crank 21 and 21 which move the levers 16 and 16 by means of the rods 19 and 19', thus opening the shutter. lWhen spreading is finished, the magnet 37 is momentarily energized to move the armature 3 6 upwardly from the position shown in Figure 3, thus reversing the above operations and closing the shutter.

The magnet 37 is controlled by a switch 170 (Fig. 5) having an arm 171 provided with a, roller 172. At the end of the spreading operation, hereinafter more fully described., the roller 172 is contacted by a cam 173 on a bracket 174 secured to a carrier 106, and in this manner the magnet is momen tarily energized.

The lowershutter 10 is operated mechanically by means of a series of levers. The ends of this shutter are mounted on discs 4() and 40 which rotate freelyzon .the housing of the Yroller bearings 41 and 41. To each of these discs a pin 42 or 42 is fastened, these pins extending through slots 43 or 43 in the body of the spreader.

These pins pass through holes in the levers 44 and 44, the lower ends of which are pivoted at 45 and 45 on the levers 46 and 46. AThese levers'are loosely mounted on shafts 47 and 47 which are fastened on the body of the spreader. At the lower ends of these levers, rollers 48and 48 are mounted.

These rollers run on cam type rails 133 (Figs. 5 and 8) as thcV spreader operates and by raising the lower ends of the levers 46 and 46 open the shutter 10 by rotating the discs 40 and 40 by means of the pins 42 and 42.

The other ends of these levers are connected by'springs 49 and 49 to the body of the spreader, these springs closing the shutter when the rollers 48 and 48 come to the proper place on the cam rail.

The upper chamber or hopper 3 is equipped with three stirrers 50,51 and 52 which are mounted on shafts 53, 54 and 55. The shafts 53 and 54 run in ball bearings 56 and 56 which are mounted in end plates 57 and 57 The lower stirrer 52 is also mounted in ball. bearings 59 and 59 which are set in the end plates 60 and 60 fastened to the ends of the spreader by means of bolts 61.

One end of each of these three shafts 53, 54 and 55 carries a sprocket 62, 63 and 64 on which runs a chain 65.

On the same end of the shaft 55 there is mounted a double gear 66a and 665 (Fig. 4).

Between this double gear and the shaft is a double ball bearing- 67 mounted on a sleeve 68 on the shaft 55. On this sleeve the sprocket 64 is mounted. By assembling the gears in this way. it is possible to rotate the gears without rotating the three stirrers in the the mold.

bearings 73 and 73. These roller bearings are not fastened to the end walls, but fit loosely in slots so that the lower half of the lower chamber can beremoved for cleaning as will be hereinafter disclosed.

The shaft 72 is equipped at its ends with gears 74 and 75. The gear 74 meshes with the gear 66?) which is driven through the gear 66a by the motor 69. In this way, the

i shaft 72 revolves and the gear 75 which is in mesh with gear 76 fastened to the shaft 55 causes the latter, and hence the three stirrers inthe upper chamber, to rotate since these three stirrers are all connected by the sprockets ,62, 63 and 64 and the chain 65.

When spreading materialV into metal foil molds, the spreaders are provided with plates or fingers 77 which press the metal foil into the grooves in the rigid mold during the spreading of the powdered material in the mold. These fingers and the associated operatingY mechanism are shown in detail in Figure 6. The fingers are formed in plates 7 7 a linger being provided for each groove in 87"" the mold. There are as many plates 77 as there are rows of separators in the mold. Each of the plates 77 has a bearing or strap 8O secured thereto by screws 80', the circular portion ()V of the strap being rigidly connected to a shaft 78 which is supported in bearings 79 secured to the lower part 83 of the spreader by screws 151. The right-hand end of eachv plate 77', as viewed in Figure 6, is normally pulled upwardly by a spring 81 fastened at its upper end to the spreader. The tendency of the spring is tolower the fingers 77 into Contact with the metal foil in the mold. The shaft 78 has an arm 152 rigidlysecured thereto, and the lower end of the arm is pro- Y vided with a pin 153 which cooperates with an arm 154 to hold the fingers out of Contact with the metal foil as the spreader is being returned to starting position. The arm 154 is pivoted at its upper end on a pin' 155 and is provided with a spring 156 which tends to force the arm to the right, as viewed in Figure 6. The movement of the arm is. limited by a stop pin 157.

Before starting to press the metalfoil into the rigid molds and spreading the powdered material on top of the foil, the fingers 77 are in the position indicated in Figure 6. As the spreader is moved to the right, the catch 158 on the arm 154 contacts with a cam 159 on the table which releases the catch from the pin 153. This allows the spring 81 to draw the right-hand end of the plate 77 upwardly and, accordingly, depresses the fingers 77 so that they will press the foil in the grooves of When the spreader reaches the right-hand end of the mold, the arm 152 con.- tacts with the cam 160,7thereby rotating the arm 152 upwardly and raising the fingers 77 from the mold. The spring 156 brings the i hook 158 into engagement with the pin 153 in order to hold the lingers in their raised position.N The spreader is then moved to the left to its starting position, while thel fingers are heldout ofcontact with the mold or the materialtherein.

The body of the lower chamber is made up of two parts, the upper Vpart 82 of which is assembled.

Each end 'of this lower vremovable piece 83 has two rollers 85 mounted on ball bearings which are, in turn, mounted on a sliding piece 86 (Fig. 3) which 'can moveV up and Y down in a slotl in the guidey 87 which is screwed to the end Vof the chamber. These sliding pieces may be held in any'desired position by thev set Ascrews 88.kv Directly above these sliding pieces are adjusting screws 89 which are 'screwed into blocks 90 fastened to the ends of the spreader. f

Thefobject of these screws is to adjust the distance of the spreading slot 9 from the surface of the molds. The rollers 85 run on rails 133 whose position relative to the mold does not change and hence the wholespreader may be raised or lowered bythe adjusting screws 89 acting on the sliding pieces 86 which carry the rollers. y

In order to spread some powders properly,

they must be maintained-at an elevatedtem-k perature. For kthis purpose, heating elements 91 are enclosed'in the V'double wall fof the spreader and the temperature is controlled by connecting one for more of these elements to a source of electric current by means of a multiple point switch'92. Y

The spreader is suspended from an overhead frame 103 (Fig. 5) by suspension bars 93 which are fastened to the spreader by screws 94. In order to spread the material in the mold, the spreader moves over the latter and, to prevent dragging the powder in the mold. a thin projecting metal strip 95 (Fig. 1) isarranged at the slot 9. This acts as a gauge and keeps the depth of the powder layer in the mold constant. 1

This spreader may be used in different ways. It may, forinstance, be mounted on a pressk which will compress the'powder in CJI VVhen Tused iin conj unction with a' press, the spreader maybe conveniently arranged as shown in Figure 5.

The operating mechanism of the press is not shown since it is immaterial -how the press operates. -It is preferred, however, to use a continuously acting press having a table on which themoldsslide and on which they can be drawn into the press for compres,- sion. This is the type described herein.

Referring to Figure 5, the press comprises a headpicce 101 and a table 102 on which the molds move. Y

On the vhead piece a frame 103 is mounted which carries the spreaders 2, which are suspended by suspensionbars'93. These suspension bars move in the guides 105, which are fastened to carriers 106 which slide on the frame V103.

Near the upper ends of the barsl -93 are wrist pins 107 which pass through slots 108 in the guides 105. These pins are connected to the lifting bars 109 carrying the adjusting turnbuckles 110 and are attached to bell cranks 111 by means of bolts 112. Y

The upper arms of the bell cranks carry rollers 113 and the lower arms have rollers 114 and also pins 115. The bell cranks are pivoted on the shafts 116 which are mounted on projecting portions 117 of the carriers.

Y When in operation, the spreaders move back and forth on the frame 103 and are driven by screws 180 passing through traveling nuts 181 fastened to the carriers 106. These screws are driven by a motor 118 mounted on the head piece of the press through reduction gear 120 and chains 121 and 122 which drive the cross shafts 123. On these shafts are mounted magnetic clutches 182 and by a suitable -arrangement of switches, the carriers may be moved in either direction, the cross shaft drivingthe screws by means of bevel gears 183. c

At the ends of the frame 103 are switches 124 with levers 125. These levers are operated by rods 126 whichare mounted on the carriers 106 and are for the purpose of re# leasing the magnetic clutch 182V thus stopping the forward motion of the spreader. The switches 127 and rods 128 operatel in the same way and are for stopping the backward motion of the spreader.

' The lower halves of molds 130 in which the powder is to be spread are fastened to a sliding table 131 which slides on a steam heated table 102. The upper half 132 of the mold is fastened to the steam heated head piece 101 of the press. The rollers 83 of the spreader run on the rails 133,', and the rollers 48, which through the shutter 10 control the slot 9, run on the rails 133. The molds are drawn in and out of the press by suitable mechanism (not shown) which operates a draw bar 134 connected to table 131.

The spreader operates as follows:

Thestartin'gl position is near theheadgpicce 101 of the press, as shown-by the rightehand spreader 2 as viewed in Figure 5; In this position, the spreader is at the highest level and is held up by the rollers 113 on the bell crank 111 which rest on the top surface of the cam plate 135. The Vspreader is started forward by causing the screws to rotate in the traveling nuts 181. The rollers 113 then move down the surface 136 of the cam plate 135 until the rollers 85 rest on the rails 133. lVhen the slot 9 of the spreader is over the nearest edge ofthe moldy cavity, the rollers 48 run on tothe raised portion 133@ of the cam rail 133 and thus open the spreading slot by operating the levers 44 and 46. The machine then moves forward until the last edge of the mold cavity is reached, when the rollers 48 run off the raised portion of the cam rail and close the shutter. The spreader continues its forward motion until the rollers 114 on the bell crank 111 engage the stop plates 137 fastened to the frame 103.v Thus, the forward motion causes the bell crank to rotate about its pivot 116 and lift the spreader by nreans of the liftingbars 109. A little further movement of the spreader causes the rod 126 to operate the switch 124 by moving the lever 125 andthis releases the vmagnetic clutch on the drivev shaft 123, causing the spreader to stop. -At the same time, the hooks V138 drop over the pin 115. This hook is pivoted at 139 and has a roller 140 on the other end. The pivot 1394 is fastened to the carrier 106. By a remote electrical control, the reverse clutch is now operated and the spreader moves backward preferably at a rate faster than that of the forward motion. The hooks 138 prevent the bell crank 111 fromI rotating and thus hold the spreader in its elevated position. As the spreader approaches the head piece of the press, the rollers 113 run onto the surface 136 of the cam plate 135, thus raising it'slightly. This releases the pressure of thehooks 138 on the pins 115 and'theyv are moved upwards from the pins by the spring 141 acting through the lever 142, pivoted at 143, on the rollers 140 of the hook. The lever 142 is held in its proper position when not in contact with the roller 140 by a pin 144.

At the moment when the rollers 113 reach the top surface ofthe cam plate 135, the rod 128 operates the switch 127, releasing the magnetic clutch on the shaft 123 and thus stopping the backward motion of the spreader.

Iffoil molds are employed, a foil holding combining strips is placed in the lower half 130 of the mold and the powdered material spread in the mold, as above described. An upper foil is then placed upon the powdered material and the lower half 130 of the mold containing the spread powdered material and the upper and lowerfffoilsis then moved un-y der the press 101. In the press, the upper half 132l of the mold compresses the powdered material and unites the upper and lower foils. The lower half 130 of the mold containing the compressed article encased by the upper and lower united foils is then withdrawn from the press and the article and foils are removed as a unit and arevulcanized. o

When using foil molds,if desired, the upper foil and the upper half 132 of the mold may be placed on the lowerhalf 131 of the mold containing a lower foil and the material spread therein, and both the upper and lower halves of the mold and the upper and lower foils with the powdered material therebetween may be moved under the press iand compressed. o Y

Where metal foils are not employed, the powdered material lis spread into the lower half 130 of the mold and the top half-132 is placed thereon. The whole mold including the top and bottom halves is then moved under the press and compressed. Thereafter, the whole mold is removed from the press and the compressed article is removed from the mold or the mold containing the article is removed bodily andthe operation is repeated. l

I have illustrated and described'the present preferred embodiment of the invention;

The invention may be' otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims:

1. Apparatus for spreadingfinely divided solid material into a mold, comprising a container, means for moving the mold and containerrelative to each other, a stirrer in the container, theV container being provided with a distributing slot, a shutter controlling the slot, and means operable in accordance with the relative positlon` of the container and mold for actuating the shutter.

2. Apparatus for spreading solid material into a mold, comprising a con- Vtainer, means for movingthe mold` and container relative to eachother, means `for heating Lthe container, a,l stirrer in the container, the container being provided with a distributing slot, a shutter controlling the slot, and means operablein accordance with the relative position of the container' and moldfor actuating the shutter. Y

3. Apparatus for spreading finely divided solid material into a mold, comprising a container, means for moving the mold and container relative to each other, a stirrer inthe container, the container being provided with a distributing slot, a shutter controlling the slot, a cam roller carried by the container,

operative connections between the cam roller and shutter, and a cam for operating the cam roller in accordance with the relative position of the container and mold. Y

' 4. Apparatus for spreading nely divided 'solid material into a mold, comprising aY confineiy divided tainer, means for moving themold andcontainer relative to each-other,` a stirrer in the container, the container Ybeing provided with a distributing slot, ashutter controlling the slot, the shutter being connected to a rotatable member, a cam roller connected through `a link to said rotatablemember, vand a camfor operating the rollerin accordance withthe relative position ofthe container and mold.

5. Apparatus for spreadingl finely divided solid material inte a meid, comprising-a container, meansvfor moving the moldand con-I the container'being provided with a; distribf uting. slot, a shutter` controlling the slot, 4said stirrer being mountedl on a'stirrer shaft eX- tending Vbeyond the container at each end tainerrelative to each other, means forlheatthereof, a rotatabie disc mounted oneach end Y of Vthe stirrer s haft, thershutter being, connected to said discs, a lever pivotally mounted on each `end of the container, acam roller on one end of each lever, links connecting the I discs and levers, a cam rail, and mean-s for holding the rollers in contact with the rail.

7. Apparatus for spreading finely divided solid material into a mold, comprising a container, means for moving the mold andcon- Y tainer relative to each other, means forheating the container, the container being divided into an upper andlower chamber having av communicating upper slot therebetween, a stirrer in each chamber, a lower 'distributing Vslotl in the lower chamber, an upper .and a lower shutter controlling said slots, means for regulating kthe position of the upper shutter, and means operable in acordance 'with the relativeV position of the container and mold u for actuating the lower shutter. Y. f l .l

8. Apparatus for spreading finely divided solidv material into a mold, comprising a' container, means for movingfthe mold and container relative to each other,- means for heat-y ing the container, the container being divided intoV an upper. andlower chamber having' a communicating upper. slot therebetween, a stirrer in ,each chamber, alower distributing slot 'in the lower chamber,v an'upper and a lower shutter controlling said slots, -vdiscs rotatably mounted on the ends of a stirrer shaft and l.connected to the upper shutter, vother discs rotatablymounted ton the ends of an- (if-i other stirrer shaft and connected to the lower shutter, means for regulating the position of the upper shutter, and means operable in accordance with the relative position of the container and mold for actuating the lower shutter.

9. Apparatus for spreading finely divided solid material into a mold, comprising a container, means for moving the mold and container relativeto each other, means for heatingthe container, the container being divided into an upper'fand lower chamber having a communicating upper slot therebetween, the lower chamber being cylindrical, the lower chamber being provided with a stirrer anda lower distributing slot, a shutter for controlling said lower slot, and means operable in accordance with the relative position of the container and mold for actuating the shutter, the walls defining the lower cylindrical chamber being divided so that the lower portion can be removed for cleaningv thestirrer.

l0.V Apparatus for spreading finely divi-ded solid material into a mold, comprising rails,

a container having supporting-rollers running on the rails, an overhead guiding and supporting framework, the container being supported from the framework by lifting bars connected to carriers movable on the framework, means vfor moving the container while supported on the rails during the spreading operation, means for raising the spreader from the rails at the completion of the spreading operation, means for returning the spreader to its starting position while raised from the rails and supported on the framework, and means for lowering the spreader onto the rails.

11. In appara-tus for spreading finely divided solid material into molds, rails, a container having supporting rollers running on the rails during the spreading operation, an overhead guiding and supporting framework, carriers movable on the framework, bell crank'levers mounted on the carriers, lifting bars connecting the container and lbell crank levers, and means for rotating said levers at the end of a spreading operation to raise the spreader from the rails.

12. In vapparatus for spreading finely divided solid material into molds, rails, 'I a container having supporting rollers running on the rails during the spreading operation, an

overhead guiding and supporting framework,pcarriers movable on the framework, bell crank levers mounted on the carriers, lifting bars connecting the container and bell crank levers, means for rotating said levers at the end of al spreading operation to raise the spreader from the rails, means for returning the spreader to starting position while raised from the rails, and means for lowering the spreader onto the rails. l

13, In apparatus for spreading nely divided solid material into molds, rails, a container having supporting rollers running/on the rails during the spreading operation, an overhead guiding and 'supporting framework, carriers movableon the framework,

bell crank levers mounted on the carriers,

lifting-bars connecting the container and bell crank levers, a cam on the framework for rotating `said levers to raise the spreader at the end of a spreading operation, a catch lever` for retaining the spreader in raised 14. In apparatus for spreading finely divided solid material into molds, rails, a container having supporting rollers running on the rails during thespreading operation, an overhead guiding and supporting framework, carriers movable on the framework, a screw threaded into at least one of the carriers, means for rotating the screw to move the carriers along the framework, bellcrank levers mounted on kthe carries, lifting bars connecting the container and bell crank levers, and means for rotating said levers at the end of a spreading operation to raise the spreader from the rails. i f

15. In apparatus for spreading -iinely divided solid material into molds, rails, a container having supporting rollers running on the rails during the spreading operation, an overhead guiding andsupportingv framework, 'carriers movable on the framework, a Vscrew threaded into each carrier, means for rotating the screws to move the carriers along the framework, bell crank levers mounted on the carriers, lifting bars connecting the container and'bell crank levers, a cam on the framework for rotating said levers to raise the spreader at the end of a spreading operation, a catch lever for retaining the container in raised position while it is returned to starting position, a second cam on the framework adjacent the starting position of the container, said second cam being operative to release the pressure on the catch'lever, and means for releasing the catch klever whereby the container may be lowered onto the rails.

16. Apparatus for spreading finely divided solid material into a mold, comprising a container,means for moving the mold and container relative to each other, a stirrer in the container, Vthe container being provided with a'distributing slot, a shutter controlling the slot, a blade connected tothe spreader and adapted to press metal foil in the mold, and means operable in accordance with the relative position of the container and mold for actuating the shutter.

-17 Apparatus for spreading finely divided solid material into a' mold, comprising a 'iso container, means for moving the mold and container relative to each other, a stirrer 1n the container, the container being provided with a distributing slot, a shutter controlling the slot, a blade connected to the spreader and adapted to press metal foil in the mold, means operable in accordance with the rela'- tive position of the spreader and mold for actuating the blade, and means operable in accordance with the relative position of the container and mold for actuating the shutter.

18. i Apparatus for spreading finely divided solid material int-o a mold, comprising. a container provided with a distributing slot,

a mold arranged below the container, an overhead framework, and rails, the container being suspended from the overhead framework and having supporting rollers adapted to run on the rails during the spreading operation,

and means for moving the mold and container relative to each other. Y

19. Apparatus for spreading finely divided solid material into a mold, comprising a container provided with a distributing slot, a mold arranged below the container, an overhead framework, rails, the container being suspended from the overhead framework and having supporting rollers adapted to run on the rails during the spreading operation,

means for moving the mold and container relative to each other, and means for raising and lowering the rollers relative to the container in Vorder to regulate the amount of material spread into the mold.

In testimony` whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

MYER VVILDERMAN. 

